Expired gift voucher - any chance of an extension?

motorman99

But registrars aren’t judges, and often see things differently…..qv the number of ‘private sale’ car cases on here where they have found in favour of the buyer, but, in law, shouldn’t have. 

You are right…..in law….but sometimes registrars don’t see it that way. And they’re in charge in scc. 

Anyway, no point arguing about it, it’s worth trying for the op for the sake of £35. 

RefluentBeans

motorman99 said:

But registrars aren’t judges, and often see things differently…..qv the number of ‘private sale’ car cases on here where they have found in favour of the buyer, but, in law, shouldn’t have. 

You are right…..in law….but sometimes registrars don’t see it that way. And they’re in charge in scc. 

Anyway, no point arguing about it, it’s worth trying for the op for the sake of £35. 

Disagree. Wasting £35 on a nuisance case that has no legal basis is probably not a smart idea. Every case always looks good for the claimant as the claim is entirely 1 sided. The other side didn’t submit a defence and so you’re right - it’s unclear what their defence would’ve been. This also isn’t a borderline case - there was no standing. 

Personally, I would just use my gift vouchers as soon as possible, but maybe that’s just me.

motorman99

Like I said before….who knows what would have happened, you can never tell. 

But it’s probably worth them just paying it than having someone in their legal dept spend 2 hours writing out the defence, which is what probably happened. 

I agree about spending them asap.

RefluentBeans

motorman99 said:

Like I said before….who knows what would have happened, you can never tell. 

But it’s probably worth them just paying it than having someone in their legal dept spend 2 hours writing out the defence, which is what probably happened. 

I agree about spending them asap.

Like I said, definition of filing nuisance cases. People do them because they work. 

lincroft1710

motorman99 said:

Well…..my wife had sone range vouchers for her birthday 3 years or so ago. Then along came Covid, etc and she went in the shop with them and they were expired. 

I called range customer services to be told tough luck
So I took  them to small claims court for the £100 plus £35 costs. Said it was unconscionable that they could take money in this way and as the customer I get nothing in return, simply wrong that they can take money in this way, and that the small print which stated they would expire was so small it was impossible to read. 

They caved in with 2 days to go, got a call, they offered new vouchers for £100, stated at first they wouldn’t pay the £35, so I said I wouldn’t settle and would take my chance in scc. After this they then sent vouchers for £135. 

They don’t want the hassle for a few quid even if they might win. 

Try it. 

1. Do check the expiry dates of the new vouchers

2. Make sure the vouchers are used before the expiry date

3. The vouchers probably won't buy as much  as when the originals were first issued

4. Because of retail mark up, the company will probably still make a profit out of the transaction

Okell

motorman99 said:

But registrars aren’t judges, and often see things differently…..

Registrars aren't judges - but registrars don't decide small claims cases either, do they?  Wouldn't that be be recorders or county court judges - both of which are judges.

However I'd agree that I think it's often worthwhile issuing a Letter Before Claim and issuing a claim for at least two reasons.

First, nuisance value as suggested by other posters.  Many business defendants will simply settle small claims because it makes commercial sense not to waste time and money defending them.

Second, I honestly think that the court will often come down in favour of an unrepresented claimant in a small claim against a large retailer, despite what the letter of the law might say.  I wouldn't take the decision of any court to be a foregone conclusion.

As you say, if somebody can afford the £35 issue fee and is willing to accept that they aren't guaranteed a win, it'll often be worth the risk.

It's one reason why I would often advise people to seriously consider writing a LBC and issuing a claim when other posters here seem terribly adverse to doing so.  If you've exhausted every other avenue, what's to lose?

(I do wonder if gift vouchers etc that have an expiry date might be "unfair" under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.  I'd be interested what argument sellers would put forward to show the term was fair)

user1977

Okell said:

motorman99 said:

But registrars aren’t judges, and often see things differently…..

(I do wonder if gift vouchers etc that have an expiry date might be "unfair" under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.  I'd be interested what argument sellers would put forward to show the term was fair)

They've got to expire at some point anyway under the normal laws of prescription for debts (5 or 6 years depending on the jurisdiction) - which is actually what some retailers explicitly do e.g. Tesco's gift cards expire 5 years after their last use.

HillStreetBlues

user1977 said:

Okell said:

motorman99 said:

But registrars aren’t judges, and often see things differently…..

(I do wonder if gift vouchers etc that have an expiry date might be "unfair" under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.  I'd be interested what argument sellers would put forward to show the term was fair)

They've got to expire at some point anyway under the normal laws of prescription for debts (5 or 6 years depending on the jurisdiction) - which is actually what some retailers explicitly do e.g. Tesco's gift cards expire 5 years after their last use.

They don't have to expire. Buying a gift card is a contract. Amazon it's ten years so nothing to do with debt laws (5 or 6 years).
The reason they have expiry dates is for accounting reasons, as no expiry means for evermore liabilities of that amount. Once expiry date is reached they can remove that as a liability.

user1977

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

Okell said:

motorman99 said:

But registrars aren’t judges, and often see things differently…..

(I do wonder if gift vouchers etc that have an expiry date might be "unfair" under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.  I'd be interested what argument sellers would put forward to show the term was fair)

They've got to expire at some point anyway under the normal laws of prescription for debts (5 or 6 years depending on the jurisdiction) - which is actually what some retailers explicitly do e.g. Tesco's gift cards expire 5 years after their last use.

They don't have to expire. Buying a gift card is a contract.

Yes, and the law of prescription applies to contracts. Unless you can explain some mechanism by which gift cards bypass those principles?

HillStreetBlues

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

Okell said:

motorman99 said:

But registrars aren’t judges, and often see things differently…..

(I do wonder if gift vouchers etc that have an expiry date might be "unfair" under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.  I'd be interested what argument sellers would put forward to show the term was fair)

They've got to expire at some point anyway under the normal laws of prescription for debts (5 or 6 years depending on the jurisdiction) - which is actually what some retailers explicitly do e.g. Tesco's gift cards expire 5 years after their last use.

They don't have to expire. Buying a gift card is a contract.

Yes, and the law of prescription applies to contracts. Unless you can explain some mechanism by which gift cards bypass those principles?

Very easy to explain, no expiry date then the contract is forever going until the gift card is redeemed. It's not the start of the contract otherwise you could never have a contract over 5 or 6 years.